ATLANTA , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Dressed head to toe in black , designer Isaac Mizrahi is wearing an outfit that seems to contradict his personality -- and his usual fashion flair .

Isaac Mizrahi has earned four awards from the Council of Fashion Designers of America .

`` I always start with color when I 'm designing things . Always . If the color is right , I feel better , '' he touts on his Web site .

But Mizrahi has an explanation for his less than colorful attire on a recent visit to CNN Center in Atlanta .

`` We have this very quick trip , and we have to go right back and there 's no time to pack and we ca n't check luggage ... so I focused it to black , gray and white . ''

It 's just one more style tip you can pick up from Mizrahi 's new book `` How to Have Style '' -LRB- Gotham -RRB- . Despite the slightly audacious title , Mizrahi , who has won four awards from the Council of Fashion Designers of America , has earned the right to tell women how to dress .

For five years , the New York fashion designer has been selling low-priced clothing and home furnishings at Target . But with his new book comes a new job -- as the creative director of Liz Claiborne .

CNN talked to Mizrahi about his love for theater , the most common fashion mistakes and why bad flowers are never OK . The following is an edited version of that interview :

CNN : You started in acting at the High School of the Performing Arts . How do you combine that love and your love for design ?

Isaac Mizrahi : Well , you know what , I think it 's all theater . I think that fashion is a form of entertainment . And I think that these days , as a fashion designer , it 's almost like you represent a political party or something .

Like women say , `` Oh , that 's a brand name I associate with because I 've worn it before . I love it . It seems to fulfill who I am really easily . '' Whatever it is , she knows that it just makes her life really easy so she associates with it , you know ? And in the end , I am like this personality that represents that . Watch Mizrahi talk about his new book ''

But more than that , I have designs -LSB- in -RSB- the entertainment business . There 's a movie called `` Unzipped '' about me that was a really successful movie . I had two TV series . I design costumes constantly for theater and ballet and opera . So to me it 's all one big world . It 's seamless to me .

CNN : What 's your daily schedule like ? It has to be crazy with all that you do .

Mizrahi : It changes every day , and I really like that . There 's a base to it . I wake up , I go swimming every day , and I eat the same breakfast almost every single day . But when I get to work is when it changes up .

Some days I work in the showroom ; some days I work in the design room ; some days I actually work in my own private studio , where I just do sketches and sketches and sketches . Other days I work in the TV studio taping segments and my Web show .

I do n't really love travel . I feel like it really disrupts what I love doing most , which is this creation , you know what I mean ? When I finally let myself enjoy it , I can enjoy traveling . But it takes a great agony for me to separate from New York City and my studios and the people that I work with .

CNN : Say you 're walking down the street . What 's the most common style error that you see in people ?

Mizrahi : I see a lot , a lot , a lot of bad hair . I would say that 's the most common style error I see is bad hair .

You know people have excuses for bad shoes -- because you know some people have back problems , it is the street and they 're walking and walking and walking -- but I do think that people have no excuse for bad hair . Because you know what ? There 's a hat , if your hair is really that bad that day .

But I always think that women should be encouraged to spend a lot of money on their hair . It 's like you should spend your most money ... on your hair . You 'd think I had a chain of hair salons , but I do n't . -LSB- Laughter -RSB- .

CNN : What about in home furnishing ? You do a line for Target that 's ending this year . What 's the most common mistake people make there ?

Mizrahi : You know what it is with people ? I think people get lazy when it comes to being at home -- they leave things around . I like to think about cabinets . I like to put things away as much as possible . It 's like salt shakers on the table ? No . You put the salt shakers in a cabinet , and the table looks so much better when it 's plain . You know what I mean ?

And people just think that bad flowers are better than nothing , but I disagree with that . I think that nothing is way better than bad flowers . You either have gorgeous , gorgeous flowers , or you have no flowers . Like at a dinner party , I prefer no flowers usually to the flowers that people have on the table . That 's awful , but it 's true .

CNN : How has your personal style evolved over time ?

Mizrahi : It 's gotten a lot quieter , my personal style . I used to dress , dress , dress , dress , dress , and I do n't know , I dress in a very particular way now and it 's almost like clockwork . And every once in a while I break out and do something crazy .

CNN : Can you describe your personality for me , and how it affects your style ?

Mizrahi : I do n't know . It 's very hard to describe one 's personality . I ca n't say about my personality , but I like to think that I 'm very exposed to what 's going on out there in the world culturally , and that 's what influences my design .

It 's kind of like here 's the 360 degrees of what 's going on -LSB- in -RSB- the world culturally , you know ? Socioeconomically , culturally , and here 's my response to it . Here 's what the clothes look like ; here 's what you should be wearing . And it 's kind of like a wonderful edge , you 're standing , and yet there 's room enough in there for your own interpretation or to move in one direction or another .

Oh ! Here 's a good description of my personality : claustrophobic . I am very claustrophobic . I do n't like to commit to one thing necessarily , but when I do commit to it , it 's whole and complete .

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Designer Isaac Mizrahi moving from Target to creative director at Liz Claiborne

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Mizrahi says he believes `` bad hair '' is the most common style mistake Designer says he prefers no flowers to `` bad '' ones

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Mizrahi admits he has a `` claustrophobic '' personality